Jul. 23rd, 2009

Jul. 23rd, 2009

My name is Donna and I am a procrastinating perfectionist. There, I said it.

I was raised with the tenets of “If you can’t do it right, don’t bother doing it at all” and “Everything has a place and everything in its place.” I was raised with the tenets of making the bed every day and inspections and water so hot it scalded. Cleaning was a marathon session every Saturday and it never, ever was right.

When I bought my house in 2006, a few months after moving in, I typed “cleaning schedule” in the Google and came up with Flylady.net. and found the words “Are you suffering from CHAOS (Can’t Have Anyone Over Syndrome)?” Why, yes, dear purple strange lady, yes, I AM.

Three years later, I still do from time to time.

Yes, the website design is stuck in 1997 (It’s free.) Yes, the acronyms are twee. (I do not have a DH and still don’t know what a DGMIL is.) Yes, sometimes, it gets a little too Jesus-y for me. Yes, the emails can be a bit overwhelming, I know where the delete button is. I take what works for me and I leave the rest.

What works for me 100% ALL THE TIME is the theory that I can do anything for 15 minutes. What works for me 95% of the time is the theory that good enough really is good enough. What works for me 95% of the time is that there is no such thing as perfect.

The very first thing Flylady wants you to do is shine your sink. Basically, you clean your kitchen sink. Take everything out of it, bleach it, comet it, windex it, whatever you have to do to get it shining. You don’t necessarily have to do this, just pick one thing in your house that is your Waterloo, and do that. And then make sure that one thing is done in your house every day. For me, mine actually is the sink. I make sure all the dishes are washed every day. Now, between you and me, I don’t actually wash the dishes (too much childhood trauma, no dishwasher). J is perfectly happy washing the dishes and I am perfectly happy to let him. Win-win.

Then, she wants you to put on some damn shoes. Now, the whole point of this is that you feel better when you are dressed and not just schlepping around in your damn pajamas. So, put on the shoes, don’t put on the shoes, it’s up to you. I can tell you this, I am in a better “get shit done” frame of mind when I am dressed and have proper footwear on. And, better prepared for the emergency runs to the Rite-Aid for more wine.

Next time, I'll take you through a typical day/week/month for me on the Flylady system.